Writings, pics, music, arts and difficult conversations

Up, Up and Away

“The future ain’t what it used to be.” Nothing like the sage of America’s formerly favorite pastime, Yogi Berra, to convey in a few words, a world of meaning. The International Space Station that is completing its first 10 years in orbit (11/02/2000), for example, never became the home away from home its creators once envisioned. Ever since its first crew spent a few uncomfortable days in it, it got much better, but never quite the easy ride of the sci-fi stories. And, let’s face it, it never will.
Then again, perhaps we’re all better off knowing that the envisioned world of The Jetsons and even of Blade Runner was not meant to be. Imagine texting and driving a hyperspeed-flying car? Or sending an ultra intelligent robot to the past, to kill somebody else’s grandfather? And don’t even let us start with all those promised wonderful foods in a pill, and the dream of living in some far away outer world, as a slave of the state. Believe us, to imagine the future is no time to skim on the consequences of our revelry and we better make sure it’s one our kids still can have the wherewithal to be just what they really are, not assembly line versions of Big Brother.
But granted, life aboard a relatively high-tech metal box slightly bigger than a RV, traveling at 17,500mph in outer space, surrounded by thousands of supersonic man-made debris and heavens-sent errant rocks that can cause catastrophic damage at a moment’s notice, can’t be made too much better. But unlike one too many a nuclear head, from the get go, the ISS was also regarded as a flight of fancy of our space age silly dreams.
Even before its first stage was delivered to space by one of the shuttles belonging to the same 30-year fleet that’s about to be retired by NASA this year, without a viable replacement, the ISS had one crucial shortcoming: its astronomical costs killed the unit designed to generate artificial gravity. Again, believe us when we say, not a single day goes by when this decision doesn’t impact the life of the astronauts living up there, and we won’t need to go to the bathroom to elaborate on that one.
Not that any of the 200 or so born and bred heroes, as these superbeings appear to be, ever complained. Or about the many other little grievances that would probably make us beg to please let us out of the bus, if we had to endure them at 220 miles above the earth. Not the least of them the constant stomach queasiness, the liquid retention on the upper part of the body, or the extensive bone loss space travelers suffer. This is one of the two of the most serious issues, along with the threat of long-term radiation exposure, scientists are still grappling to solve in time for longer expeditions through the big void.
And then there’s the $100 billion price tag of such piece of machinery, increasingly hard to defend back on earth. Neither the stunning pictures taken from the station, nor the many scientific experiments that trickled down to our daily lives, such as voice-controlled wheelchairs, fire resistant materials and water-purification systems (all liquid body waste, for example, is recycled and reused at the ISS), are easy sells.
And the platoon of budget-vigilantes, who won’t hesitate signing on a multi-billion new weapon if that will benefit their friendly industries, is always ready to play that cynical but highly populist card, the “why are we spending so much money up there?” and the ever reliable, “we can’t afford to dream at this time.”
No one is more shocked for such a reductive view of managing the scientific future of a nation than the rocket scientists themselves, who can recreate a whole universe from scratch if it’d be needed, and are also known for being super-athletes, but never made to great politicians.
The ISS is slated to be decommissioned in 2020 but it may as well fly way beyond that. After the last shuttle lands for good on earth, the station will be serviced by the impossibly cranky Russian Soyuz capsule, which surely makes Vladimir Putin proud and pretty much no one else. Since the world is not getting any friendlier towards such lofty and expensive experiments, it’s very likely that once decommissioned, that will be it for our dreams of having a home among the stars.
But who knows? Maybe this too will all change. Once again, Berra comes to our rescue. Trying to explain an unreal coming from behind by the Yankees, he came up with a summation that far outlived the game it was meant to refer to: “It ain’t over till it’s over.”

OCTOBER CUT

Tim Burton's Vincent (1982)

WILD HORSES

Harrowing Ride

Audio Portrait

East Village in the 80s through my answering machine. Greeting messages, friendly voices, a recorded ecstasy and many tongues were left on tape for me to remember. Now I'm sharing it all with you. Enjoy it.

World Cup
in S.Africa.
Remember?

Zombie Paul
Walks Again

New straight-to-DVD documentary rehashes an old conspiracy theory(with a little help from a "George Harrison package" postmarked after his death!).

Joyce's 'Ulysses'
as Graphic Novel

The illustration above is one of the plates of "Ulysses 'Seen,'" a high quality graphic adaptation by Robert Berry of James Joyce's masterpiece "Ulysses."
For those who never got around to read the long, uninterrupted, controversial June 16, 1904, conversation by Molly Bloom, Stephen Dedalus and others, that the great Irishman envisioned in Dublin, you won't have a better chance to do it.
And for those already familiar with the book form, it's another opportunity to appreciate this enduring work of literature through the eyes of a contemporary artist.
In either case, a few pints of Guinness to go along with it are absolutely optional.

EPITAPH

"Alone we are born, and die alone;
Yet see the red-gold cirrus
Over snow-mountain shine.
Upon the upland road
Ride easy, stranger:
Surrender to the sky
Your heart of anger."

FALSE ALARM

Desmodus

The Artist

Father & Son

Fireball Over Midwest Skies

COLL POLL

The Numbers Are In

Voting stations are closed at this time. The final tally was 13 votes in favor of Coll getting a cellphone and two against it.

MAY 19th IS COLL'S BIRTHDAY & HE WON!

This decision is final. Thank you all for participating. Coll's most heartfelt gratitude goes for the kind souls who voted in favor. For the two heartless hacks who were against it (you know who you are), a SWAP team graciously volunteered to pay you a visit first thing tomorrow morning. Stop by the front desk to request a waiver to present to your teacher, boss or dominatrix. Call your mother. Enroll in a charitable cause. Volunteer at a Soup Kitchen. Run to raise funds for Aids. This is our last broadcast. Please tune in for future promotions. This tape will self-destroy in five seconds. No further ado will come out of nothing. (5/19/2010)

MOTION

CLUTCH

Off-Key Note

Writings, pictures, videos, comments & more, edited by a writer, musician and world citizen living in downtown
New York City.
Acting gigs, a few screenplays and endless clashes with reality.
Brazilian by birth, multilingual by chance, cash strapped as usual.
Agnostic but partial to great soccer. Unmoved by sunsets, campaign speeches, the religious pull or any sure bet.Poor vision and lower back pain. A bottomless pit for a navel. Blue, cats, 9, left, heat and outer space.
Common ground needs not to apply. Not accepting advice at this time.

Naked City

“In Italy, for thirty years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love, five hundred years of democracy and peace – and what did they produce? The cuckoo clock.”

Slideshow

LAST WORDS

* - "Let's do it."GARY GILMORE, executed by firing squad in Jan. 17, 1977, by the State of Utah, for murdering a model clerk. He was the last person to be executed in the U.S. in that fashion until June 18, 2010, when Ronnie Lee Gardner was shot to death also by Utah.

Norman Mailer wrote "The Executioner's Song," which he called a "true story," based on the relationship he established with Gilmore, a confessed killer, and the state of affairs of the U.S. in the 1970s. The book doesn't shy away from the horrific facts surrounding his murderous spree, but in a way it tones them down and shifts the focus to the society's possible role as a fertile ground for such deviant behavior.